This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
As automobile manufacturers continue to integrate telematics devices in automobiles, the trend is to provide the telematics devices with capabilities to make data calls. For instance, a data call may be made over a TDMA network. Traditionally, a data call will be made from a telematics device through a cellular network of the service provider. Thus, to make a data call, the telematics device is required to be in the service provider's coverage area or “footprint.” Upon initiating a data call, the service provider authenticates the telematics device before providing service to the device. This typically requires a complex procedure to be performed between the server and the device.
As can be appreciated, however, telematics devices may routinely be outside of the service provider's footprint. In these situations, the telematics device can still make data calls via a third party service provider enlisted as a roaming partner of the service provider. In this scenario the data call is routed through one or more of the third party's servers to the service provider's server. An issue that arises in this situation, however, is that the telematics device still needs to be authenticated by the service provider. Because each service provider has its own proprietary methods for authenticating a device, authentication is a difficult task. Furthermore, as the data for authenticating the device is stored on the service provider's data servers, authenticating proves to be even more difficult.